Ezekiel 18
King James Version
18 The word of the Lord came unto me again, saying,
2 What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge?
3 As I live, saith the Lord God, ye shall not have occasion any more to use this proverb in Israel.
4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.
5 But if a man be just, and do that which is lawful and right,
6 And hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, neither hath defiled his neighbour's wife, neither hath come near to a menstruous woman,
7 And hath not oppressed any, but hath restored to the debtor his pledge, hath spoiled none by violence, hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment;
8 He that hath not given forth upon usury, neither hath taken any increase, that hath withdrawn his hand from iniquity, hath executed true judgment between man and man,
9 Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord God.
10 If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,
11 And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour's wife,
12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,
13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.
14 Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father's sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,
15 That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour's wife,
16 Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment,
17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live.
18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity.
19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live.
20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him.
21 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
22 All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live.
23 Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord God: and not that he should return from his ways, and live?
24 But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.
25 Yet ye say, The way of the Lord is not equal. Hear now, O house of Israel; Is not my way equal? are not your ways unequal?
26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die.
27 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive.
28 Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die.
29 Yet saith the house of Israel, The way of the Lord is not equal. O house of Israel, are not my ways equal? are not your ways unequal?
30 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel, every one according to his ways, saith the Lord God. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin.
31 Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel?
32 For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord God: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
Ezekiel 18
Lexham English Bible
God’s Just Treatment of Individuals, Both Righteous and Wicked
18 And the word of Yahweh came[a] to me, saying,[b] 2 “What do you mean by[c] quoting this proverb about the land of Israel, saying,[d] ‘The fathers, they ate unripe fruit, and the teeth of the child became blunt.’[e] 3 As I live,[f] declares[g] the Lord Yahweh, it will surely not any longer be appropriate for you[h] to quote this proverb in Israel! 4 Look! All lives are mine.[i] The lives of father and son alike are mine.[j] The person[k] sinning will die. 5 And if a man is righteous and does justice and righteousness, 6 and on the mountains he does not eat and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile and he does not approach a woman of[l] menstruation, 7 and he oppresses no one[m] and he returns a pledge for his loan and he commits no robbery[n] and he gives[o] his bread to the hungry and he covers a naked person with a garment, 8 and he does not charge interest[p] and he takes no usury, and he holds back[q] his hand from injustice and he executes a judgment of fairness between persons,[r] 9 and in my statutes he goes about and my regulations he keeps,[s] performing faithfully[t] —then he is righteous, and certainly he will live,” declares[u] the Lord Yahweh.
10 “And now he has a son, a violent one, who sheds blood[v] and does any of these things[w] 11 (though[x] he[y] did not do all of these things), for the son also[z] eats on the mountains and he defiles the wife of his neighbor. 12 He oppresses the needy and the poor, and he commits robbery,[aa] and he does not return a pledge for a loan, and he lifts his eyes to the idols so he does a detestable thing. 13 He charges interest[ab] and takes usury. Then, shall he live? He shall not live, for he did all of these detestable things. Surely he will die! His blood will be on him.
14 “And look! He has a son, and he sees all of the sin of his father that he did, and he sees it, but he does not do it. 15 On the mountains he does not eat, and he does not lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, and the wife of his neighbor he does not defile. 16 And he oppresses no one; he requires no pledge for a loan, and he does not commit robbery;[ac] he gives his bread to the hungry, and he covers the naked person with a garment. 17 He brings back[ad] his hand from iniquity;[ae] he does not take interest and usury; he does my regulations; he goes[af] in my statutes. He will not die because of the guilt of his father; he will surely live! 18 Because his father oppressed severely;[ag] he stole from his brother;[ah] that which is not good he did in the midst of his people, and look! He will die through[ai] his guilt.
19 “Yet[aj] you say, ‘Why does the son not bear the guilt of the father?’ And since the son does justice and righteousness and he keeps all of my statutes and does them, he shall surely live! 20 The person,[ak] the one sinning, will die. A son shall not bear the guilt of the father, and a father shall not bear the guilt of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be on him; the wickedness of the wicked[al] shall be on him. 21 But if the wicked returns from all of his sins[am] that he has done and he keeps all of my statutes and he does justice and righteousness, he shall surely live; he shall not die! 22 All of his transgressions that he committed will not be remembered against[an] him. Through[ao] his righteousness that he has done he shall live. 23 Have I delight by any means[ap] in the death of the wicked, declares[aq] the Lord Yahweh, and not at his turning from his way, so that[ar] he lives? 24 And when the righteous turns[as] from his righteousness, so that[at] he does injustice, and does all of the detestable things that the wicked do, then[au] will he live because of all of his righteousness[av] that he did? Those things will not be remembered because of his infidelity that he displayed, and because of his sin that he committed.[aw] Through[ax] them he shall die.
25 “Yet[ay] you say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Listen, now, house of Israel, is my way not fair? Is it not your ways that are not fair? 26 When the righteous turns from his righteousness, and he does injustice, then[az] he will die because of them; because of his injustice that he did he will die! 27 And when the wicked turns from his wickedness that he did and he does justice and righteousness, he will preserve his life.[ba] 28 And if he sees and he returns from all of his transgressions that he did, surely he will live; he will not die! 29 And yet they, the house of Israel, say, ‘The way of the Lord is not fair!’ Are not my ways fair, house of Israel? Are not your ways unfair?[bb]
30 “Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each one[bc] according to his ways,” declares[bd] the Lord Yahweh. “Repent[be] and turn around from all of your transgression, and it will not be as a stumbling block of iniquity to you. 31 Throw away from yourselves[bf] all of your transgressions that you committed,[bg] and make for yourselves[bh] a new heart and new spirit, and so why will you die, house of Israel? 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of the dying,” declares[bi] the Lord Yahweh. “And so repent[bj] and live!”
Footnotes
- Ezekiel 18:1 Literally “was”
- Ezekiel 18:1 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 18:2 Literally “What is to you”
- Ezekiel 18:2 Literally “to say”
- Ezekiel 18:2 Or “dull,” set on edge”
- Ezekiel 18:3 Literally “life I”
- Ezekiel 18:3 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:3 Literally “to you”
- Ezekiel 18:4 Literally “all of the lives are for me they”
- Ezekiel 18:4 Literally “Like the life of the father and like the life of the son is to me look”
- Ezekiel 18:4 Or “life,” or “soul”
- Ezekiel 18:6 Or “in”
- Ezekiel 18:7 Literally “a person not”
- Ezekiel 18:7 Literally “robbed things not he seized”
- Ezekiel 18:7 Or “shares”
- Ezekiel 18:8 Literally “with the interest not he gives”
- Ezekiel 18:8 Or “brings back”
- Ezekiel 18:8 Literally “man and man”
- Ezekiel 18:9 Or “watches”
- Ezekiel 18:9 Literally “to do with with faithfulness”
- Ezekiel 18:9 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:10 Literally “shedding of blood”
- Ezekiel 18:10 Literally “and he does like from one from these”
- Ezekiel 18:11 Hebrew “And”
- Ezekiel 18:11 That is, the father
- Ezekiel 18:11 Or “even”
- Ezekiel 18:12 Literally “robbed things he seized”
- Ezekiel 18:13 Literally “with the interest he gives”
- Ezekiel 18:16 Literally “robbed things not does he seize”
- Ezekiel 18:17 Or “holds back”
- Ezekiel 18:17 Cf. verse 8
- Ezekiel 18:17 Or “walks”
- Ezekiel 18:18 Literally “he oppressed oppression”
- Ezekiel 18:18 Literally “he seized robbed things of a brother”
- Ezekiel 18:18 Or “in”
- Ezekiel 18:19 Or “And”
- Ezekiel 18:20 Or “soul,” or “life”
- Ezekiel 18:20 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
- Ezekiel 18:21 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
- Ezekiel 18:22 Or “for”
- Ezekiel 18:22 Or “By means of”
- Ezekiel 18:23 Or “in any way”
- Ezekiel 18:23 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:23 Literally “and”
- Ezekiel 18:24 Literally “at turning of the righteous”
- Ezekiel 18:24 Literally “and”
- Ezekiel 18:24 Or “and”
- Ezekiel 18:24 According to the reading tradition (Qere)
- Ezekiel 18:24 Literally “sin that he sinned”
- Ezekiel 18:24 Or “in/by”
- Ezekiel 18:25 Or “And”
- Ezekiel 18:26 Or “and”
- Ezekiel 18:27 Literally “his soul/life he will keep alive”
- Ezekiel 18:29 Literally “not ways your not are right”
- Ezekiel 18:30 Hebrew “man”
- Ezekiel 18:30 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:30 Or “Turn/Return”
- Ezekiel 18:31 Literally “from on you”
- Ezekiel 18:31 Hebrew “committed with them”
- Ezekiel 18:31 Literally “to you”
- Ezekiel 18:32 Literally “declaration of”
- Ezekiel 18:32 Or “turn/return”
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